Chapter 2: Your Cheating Tool Has Arrived, Please Collect It

Chapter 2: Your Cheating Tool Has Arrived, Please Collect It

Tang Fei's eyes widened in astonishment, eagerly awaiting a miracle to unfold. In the game, the magnificent palace gates should have swung open with an impressive opening animation, allowing her created character to step inside.

However, halfway through the dazzling special effects, they began to swirl and distort. The palace gates failed to open completely, managing only a narrow crack. A progress bar froze at 1%, plunging everything into darkness, leaving Tang Fei utterly bewildered.

"Hello? Cheating tool, are you still there?"

A small message appeared: "Environment adaptation failed. Game functions initialization unsuccessful."

The screen twisted, leaving two buttons floating before her eyes, both shimmering with golden light: "Recharge" and "Lucky Draw."

Despite the game's collapse, its core function—recharging—remained intact.

She found herself in an unfamiliar world, initially assuming she'd be blindly fending for herself. Yet, this ridiculous mini-game that had swallowed so much of her money had unexpectedly followed her here.

Was it like meeting an old friend in a foreign land? Or was it a long-distance delivery of a cheating tool?

Due to the adaptation failure, the game retained only its most essential feature—the very cheat that would now sustain her. She wondered what it had in store for her.

She hesitated whether to recharge a few dollars to give it a try, but before she could decide, the recharge button had already been automatically pressed by the game. Tang Fei was startled; she swore she hadn't touched anything – the game had taken the initiative.

This cheat was fully automated!

A text message on Tang Fei's phone indicated a payment of 100,000 yuan. She immediately checked the original owner's bank account.

The original owner, despite having sunk into obscurity in the entertainment industry, still had some savings. In an instant, her 500,000 yuan savings were depleted by the game, leaving only about 400,000 yuan behind.

These savings were intended by the original owner as dowry for marriage back in her hometown. She had been reluctant to touch them even with her modest salary over the years, yet they were now being squandered under Tang Fei's watch.

"Environment Adaptation Failed"

It was as if the game had heard Tang Fei's thoughts and responded with a text message.

Hmmmm...

Was it all the environment's fault?

The spin button was automatically pressed, and Tang Fei, who had always been unlucky, had become somewhat numb to such situations. After drawing tens of thousands of one-star cards, she once suspected that the game was targeting her.

She expected yet another one-star card - perhaps a broken blush, a patched palace dress, an eunuch's duster, or an old sock belonging to a palace maid.

But this time, she was wrong. After the spin button flashed, the card lying before her eyes shimmered with golden light, dazzlingly brilliant. It was a four-star makeup item she had once dreamed of!

At a cost of 100,000 yuan per draw, this stroke of luck exuded extravagance and fortune.

A small caption beside it read,

"Pure Lotus Makeup, four-star. Legend has it that when a beauty emerges from a bath, a lotus rises from the water, surrounded by the ethereal aura of a flower fairy. Upon use, the Empress will resemble a lotus goddess, delicate and enchanting."

Tang Fei couldn't believe her eyes as she tapped on the Pure Lotus Makeup card.

No extravagant special effects appeared; the card simply vanished into thin air. Tang Fei felt a sudden transformation on her face, as if she had just undergone a deep moisturizing facial massage. It invigorated her from within, energizing her instantly.

She quickly opened her phone's mirror app. The person reflected still had the same features, but their sharp, refined contours had softened, and their demeanor had become more vulnerable. Her skin now seemed so dewy and tender that it appeared as if she had just stepped out of a bathtub.

What a lovely, delicate maiden.

Her gestures, too, seemed influenced by the makeup, and her usual boldness was replaced with a refined subtlety. Her slightly extended neck and slightly bent back now appeared graceful and upright.

The Fresh Lotus makeup suited her perfectly in this context. As a seemingly delicate but inwardly wicked palace maid, even without acting skills, she could pull off a stoic expression. Such a beautiful and poised face would be a delight to watch on its own.

She wouldn't regret taking on this role. With this makeup enhancing her appearance, it would be difficult for viewers to develop any negative feelings towards her character.

Was the game specifically designed to assist her in overcoming her predicament? Recalling the cast of the drama, there were no exceptionally handsome or beautiful actors. With the aura and looks brought about by this makeup card, Tang Fei would undoubtedly be the most captivating presence in the show.

" Cousins? Cousin, what's wrong? Why do you seem like a different person?"

In front of He Zhou, Tang Fei suddenly froze, and her entire demeanor underwent an inner transformation. Though Tang Fei was still herself, her expression and bearing gave him a different impression.

"I?" Tang Fei's self-appreciation was interrupted by her cousin.

"A Zhou, I'm trying to get into character," she said, gently propping her chin up. With the help of the makeup, she exuded a pitiable charm that evoked sympathy.

He Zhou was startled by Tang Fei's performance. His cousin wasn't expressionless anymore?

And she was getting into character! In the past, Tang Fei believed that her face alone was enough, deeming the need to delve into character development unnecessary - it was tiring and yielded no tangible results.

Back when Tang Fei first entered the industry, she was also brimming with passion. She would observe the performances of Oscar-winning actors and actresses, and during her company's training sessions, they even invited the legendary, award-winning Civilization Hua to impart his acting wisdom.

Back then, Tang Fei had looked up to him with admiration. Yet, after months of practice, she ended up at the bottom of the batch in the company's training program. Her acting skills were abysmal; if there was a ranking for worst acting in the entertainment industry, she would have been second to last. But in the end, what happened? Tang Fei still became famous. Looks were enough for her, so at that time, she discarded the concept of acting from her dictionary.

In subsequent productions, Tang Fei vowed to focus on maintaining her beauty rather than striving for improved acting.

"Cousin, are you alright? Did you faint from heatstroke and bump your head?"

"I won't be underestimated by them. I refuse to believe that I can't improve with effort. Even if I have to play the role of a vicious maid in a minor supporting role, I'll be the brightest star on set." Possessed with the natural beauty of a lotus in clear water and empowered by her advantage, Tang Fei's confidence soared.

With utmost confidence, Tang Fei embarked on her task, akin to the dedication she had shown during her three years of high school and five years of mock exam preparations. She aimed to delve into the script and its characters, extracting their essence.

freshly awoken, she dared not yet indulge in the emotions that swirled within her. She refrained from pondering the fate of her original parents and siblings, or whether, after such remarkable experiences, her former self still existed, and how her original family was faring.

Hiding these thoughts in her heart, she engaged He Zhou in conversation to divert her attention, silently reminding herself.

The likelihood of her returning was slim. The original owner was merely a naive and slightly capricious pretty young girl who had been forced to leave in humiliation. She must strive diligently, not to repeat the same mistakes and cause sorrow to those who love her while pleasing her adversaries.

"A Zhou, fetch me the script!"

"Jiejie, what's wrong? Don't scare me," He Zhou was clearly startled by Tang Fei's declaration, especially after her ambitious words. If this were during Tang Fei's heyday, he might have believed her, but now he feared that she had been deeply affected by a recent setback.

"A Zhou, I've come to a realization. Eight years wasted here with nothing but scandals to show for it. I refuse to leave in such a pathetic manner."

"Jiejie, you can do it!" He Zhou took out the script from his bag, marked with notes – some of which he had read aloud to Tang Fei before.

In the acting profession, talent truly mattered; effort alone was not enough. But He Zhou would support his cousin's decision, even if he knew it was unreliable. This was spiritual encouragement, the strength that came from family and friends.

There were talented actors with low IQ and EQ, some were simply born with a natural gift for acting, adept at emotional resonance and modulation. The original Tang Fei, however, didn't possess such skills.

"I'll memorize my lines!" Determined to start anew and make a real go of her career in the entertainment industry, Tang Fei resolved not to be like those actors she used to despise as an audience member, who performed with the seriousness of children playing house. She would not let herself fall into that category.

Now, she intended to leverage both the strengths of the original owner and herself to shine.

He Zhou offered Tang Fei an encouraging thumbs-up, but inwardly, he couldn't help but think that his cousin, who struggled even with reciting a poem fluently, would surely fail to memorize her lines. Perhaps, just like before when she was spurred by Song Li's taunts into a brief burst of effort, she would eventually give up due to her inherent lack of talent after a short-lived enthusiasm.

Unaware of He Zhou's thoughts, Tang Fei was merely seeking a last-minute boost to demonstrate her commitment.

The rhythm of dialogue, enunciation, emotional nuances, pauses – she only had a vague understanding of these aspects.

In her previous life, as an audience member and an online commentator, though she hadn't personally experienced it, she had certainly seen it happen: this drama would definitely have voice dubbing. Ensuring that her lip movements synced with the dubbing actors' lines would be the first step in her transformation.

After all, the original owner had been criticized by many viewers: "Tang Fei's performances are equivalent to dubbed films, the lip sync is completely off."

The original owner's level and career were undoubtedly at rock bottom.